This unique textbook enables social work practitioners to gain a deeper understanding of how Islamic principles inform and influence the lives of Muslim populations. Designed to support work with families and faith communities, this completely revised and updated edition examines religious precepts, cosmologies, philosophies and daily practices, while acknowledging cultural variants and population heterogeneity. It includes a comprehensive update of the research literature, international case studies, and new sections on religious extremism and ageing and end-of-life. This is the only book specifically on social work with Muslim communities and provides an essential toolkit for culturally sensitive social work practice.

The Muslim shrine is at the crossroad of many processes involving society and culture. It is the place where a saint - often a Sufi - is buried, and it works as a main social factor, with the power of integrating or rejecting people and groups, and as a mirror reflecting the intricacies of a society. The book discusses the role of popular Islam in structuring individual and collective identities in contemporary South Asia. It identifies similarities and differences between the worship of saints and the pattern of religious attendance to tombs and mausoleums in South Asian Sufism and Shi`ism. Inspired by new advances in the field of ritual and pilgrimage studies, the book demonstrates that religious gatherings are spaces of negotiation and redefinitions of religious identity and of the notion of sainthood. Drawing from a large corpus of vernacular and colonial sources, as well as the register of popular literature and ethnographic observation, the authors describe how religious identities are co-constructed through the management of rituals, and are constantly renegotiated through discourses and religious practices. By enabling students, researchers and academics to critically understand the complexity of religious places within the world of popular and devotional Islam, this geographical re-mapping of Muslim religious gatherings in contemporary South Asia contributes to a new understanding of South Asian and Islamic Studies.

The Islamic University of Medina was established by the Saudi state in 1961 to provide religious instruction primarily to foreign students. Students would come to Medina for religious education and were then expected to act as missionaries, promoting an understanding of Islam in line with the core tenets of Wahhabism. By the early 2000s, more than 11,000 young men from across the globe had graduated from the Islamic University. Circuits of Faith offers the first examination of the Islamic University and considers the efforts undertaken by Saudi actors and institutions to exert religious influence far beyond the kingdom's borders. Michael Farquhar draws on Arabic sources, including biographical materials, memoirs, syllabi, and back issues of the Islamic University journal, as well as interviews with former staff and students, to explore the institution's history and faculty, the content and style of instruction, and the trajectories and experiences of its students. Countering typical assumptions, Farquhar argues that the project undertaken through the Islamic University amounts to something more complex than just the one-way "export" of Wahhabism. Through transnational networks of students and faculty, this Saudi state-funded religious mission also relies upon, and has in turn been influenced by, far-reaching circulations of persons and ideas.

As Muslim women continue to be a focus of media-led debate, Naaz Rashid uses original scholarship and empirical research to examine how Muslim women are represented in social policy discourse and how the trope of the Muslim woman is situated within national debates about Britishness, the death of multiculturalism and global concerns over international terrorism.

This book explores the political integration of Muslims and Islam across contemporary democracies. The author focuses on France, a country in which the integration of Muslims is usually seen as being problematic and controversial, and which is struggling with both Islamic radicalisation on the one hand, and the new wave of extreme-right populism on the other. Whereas conventional approaches to the topic of the integration of Muslims in France have tended to focus on single methods and sources, such as demographic characteristics or cultural and economic resources, the 'field mixed-method approach' offered in this book allows for a more nuanced analysis. It sheds new light on the interactive dynamics between policy processes, the role of key meso-level actors such as movements and associations, and the political entrepreneurship of Muslims themselves within the overarching frame of French citizenship. The book thus assesses the extent to which a broad set of interactions link Muslim French to the broader community of French citizens. It will be of interest to scholars and students with an interest in Political Sociology, Islamic Studies, Citizenship and European Politics.

This book surveys the growth and development of Islam in Malaysia from the eleventh to the twenty-first century, investigating how Islam has shaped the social lives, languages, cultures and politics of both Muslims and non-Muslims in one of the most populous Muslim regions in the world. Khairudin Aljunied shows how Muslims in Malaysia built upon the legacy of their pre-Islamic past while benefiting from Islamic ideas, values, and networks to found flourishing states and societies that have played an influential role in a globalizing world. He examines the movement of ideas, peoples, goods, technologies, arts, and cultures across into and out of Malaysia over the centuries. Interactions between Muslims and the local Malay population began as early as the eighth century, sustained by trade and the agency of Sufi as well as Arab, Indian, Persian, and Chinese scholars and missionaries. Aljunied looks at how Malay states and societies survived under colonial regimes that heightened racial and religious divisions, and how Muslims responded through violence as well as reformist movements. Although there have been tensions and skirmishes between Muslims and non-Muslims in Malaysia, they have learned in the main to co-exist harmoniously, creating a society comprising of a variety of distinct populations. This is the first book to provide a seamless account of the millennium-old venture of Islam in Malaysia.

Motivated by the intellectual historian Shahab Ahmed's observation that "the history of Islamic paideia has yet to be written," Islam as Education explores multiple forms that the search for knowledge and the transmission of wisdom have taken in Islam, focusing on the classical period (800-1500 CE). Ghiloni draws on a wide range of Islamic primary source material, ranging from sacred texts and parables to neglected pedagogical literature and paintings. He depicts three Islamic religious practices-pilgrimage, prophecy, and jihad-as modes of pedagogy: embodied ways of defining, defusing, and defending sacred knowledge. Islam as Education's educational heuristic not only aids in understanding Islam, but also provides guidance for intercultural and interreligious relations. Ghiloni argues that Islam's grand 'ilm (knowledge) tradition serves as a bridge between Muslims and non-Muslims, and compares it with the educational theory of John Dewey, the celebrated American pragmatist. Based on this discussion, a final chapter develops practical tools for learning from cultural and religious difference.

Since the Mediterranean connects cultures, Mediterranean studies have by definition an intercultural focus. Throughout the modern era, the Ottoman Empire has had a lasting impact on the cultures and societies of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. However, the modern Balkans are usually studied within the context of European history, the southern Mediterranean within the context of Islam. Although it makes sense to connect both regions, this is a vast field and requires a command of different languages not necessarily related to each other. Investigating both Greek and Arabic sources, this book will shed some light on the significance of ideas in the political transitions of their time and how the proponents of these transitions often became so overwhelmed by the events that they helped trigger adjustments to their own ideas. Also, the discourses in Greek and Arabic reflect the provinces of the Ottoman Empire and it is instructive to see their differences and commonalities which helps explain contemporary politics.

Ziauddin Sardar is a prolific writer and an insightful cultural commentator. His book, "Why Do People Hate America?", has been a regular feature in bestseller lists in several countries. In the UK, he is known as a leading intellectual and his regular contributions to the "Observer", the "Independent" and the "New Statesman" have brought his writings to a wide audience. As a high-profile Muslim intellectual, he has also become an increasingly important voice in the media since the events of September 11th 2001.This is a collection of his writings that offers a comprehensive introduction to his thought. Starting with his analysis of his own position as a British Muslim and a writer, it goes on to explore issues of Islam and cultural change, education, identity, post-modernism and the future. Drawn from a broad range of his work in scholarly journals as well as from his many books on aspects of culture and society, it includes his most frequently cited papers and makes an ideal introduction to the immense scope of his work in cultural studies.

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001 and up to and beyond Osama bin Laden's death, al-Qaeda has come to embody the new enigmatic face of terrorism, dominating discussions of national and international security. Yet in spite of the attention it receives, conflicting assumptions about the group abound. Is al-Qaeda a rigidly structured organization, a global network of semi-independent cells, a franchise, or simply an idea whose time has come? What is meant by talk of the "global Salafi jihad" that is confronting the West? What are the implications of bin Laden's death? Christina Hellmich offers a critical examination of the widely-held notions regarding the origins and manifestations of al-Qaeda and the sources on which they rely, mapping the organization's alleged transition from what began as a regional struggle against the Soviets in Afghanistan to the increasingly leaderless jihad of the post-9/11 world. Rather than just providing yet another biography of al-Qaeda, Hellmich forensically examines discrepancies between the most common explanations and to the limits of what can realistically be known. Drawing on Arabic-language sources - some of them previously unavailable in English - "Al-Qaeda: From Global Network to Local Franchise" offers a penetrating insight into an organization which, for all its notoriety, is one of the least-understood of our time.

What's it like to be a Muslim living in the West today? And how different is it to the experiences of Muslims who lived in Western countries many generations ago? It is a difficult time right now for the Muslim diaspora throughout the United States and Europe. George W. Bush's 'war on terror' is seen through much of the Muslim world as a war on Islam. This has complex repercussions for Muslims living in the West. Tensions and anxieties are running high as many Muslims in America and Europe are caught in a climate of social unrest, much of it compounded by living in the spotlight of the media. This book generates a fresh perspective on the problematic relationships between Islam, the West and so-called modernity -- in the light of an increasingly vocal Muslim diaspora in Europe and the United States. This is not the first time that conflict has arisen between Muslims in the West and their other communities -- this book examines a long history of volatile social relations based on extensive travels and research across four continents. Iftikhar H. Malik offers a wealth of case studies ranging from Muslim Spain and the Ottoman Empire to the present day; from the eruptions of anti-Islamic feeling over the Salman Rushdie affair to the demonisation of Islam currently running high on the agenda of the 'war on terror'.

This book examines closely many of the unquestioned assumptions by which we live our lives, comparing them with the beliefs that have shaped and guided human life in the past. It begins with a consideration of how secular societies attempt to possess their citizens, body and soul and how, as a consequence, the necessity of redefining human responsibility becomes an ever more urgent imperative. The book continues with a presentation of the traditional view of man as 'God's Viceroy on Earth', with an eye to its practical implications in a world that has all but forgotten, under the pressure of mass social persuasion, that man must always be free to choose his own ultimate destiny. The author's thesis is a passionate yet incisive plea for the restoration of the sacred norms of religion, as against the debilitating and falsifying aims of a profane world-view based on no more than recent scientific and technological achievements.

In this social history of African American Muslim polygyny, Debra Majeed sheds light on the struggles of families whose form and function conflict with U.S. civil law. While all forms of polygamy are banned in the United States, polygyny has steadily emerged as an alternative force to the low numbers of marriageable African American men and the high number of female-led households in black America. Majeed situates African American Muslims in the center of this dialogue on polygyny, examining the choices available to women in these relationships and the scope of their rights. She calls attention to the efficacy of marital choice and the ways in which interpretationsof Islam's primary sources are authorized or legitimated to control the rights of Muslim women. Exploring how women share motivations, rationales, and consequences of living in polygynous families, Majeed highlights the legal, emotional, and communal implications while encouraging Muslim communities to develop formal measures that ensure the welfare of women and children who are otherwise not recognized by the state.

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Why the conventional wisdom about the Arab Spring is wrong The Arab Spring promised to end dictatorship and bring self-government to people across the Middle East. Yet everywhere except Tunisia it led to either renewed dictatorship, civil war, extremist terror, or all three. In The Arab Winter, Noah Feldman argues that the Arab Spring was nevertheless not an unmitigated failure, much less an inevitable one. Rather, it was a noble, tragic series of events in which, for the first time in recent Middle Eastern history, Arabic-speaking peoples took free, collective political action as they sought to achieve self-determination. Focusing on the Egyptian revolution and counterrevolution, the Syrian civil war, the rise and fall of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and the Tunisian struggle toward Islamic constitutionalism, Feldman provides an original account of the political consequences of the Arab Spring, including the reaffirmation of pan-Arab identity, the devastation of Arab nationalisms, and the death of political Islam with the collapse of ISIS. He also challenges commentators who say that the Arab Spring was never truly transformative, that Arab popular self-determination was a mirage, and even that Arabs or Muslims are less capable of democracy than other peoples. Above all, The Arab Winter shows that we must not let the tragic outcome of the Arab Spring disguise its inherent human worth. People whose political lives had been determined from the outside tried, and for a time succeeded, in making politics for themselves. That this did not result in constitutional democracy or a better life for most of those affected doesn't mean the effort didn't matter. To the contrary, it matters for history-and it matters for the future.

Following Spains democratic transition during the late 1970s, political and business elites strategically exploited Spains rich Islamic heritage in order to further projects of national redefinition, tourist promotion, and urban revitalization. Large and ornate mosques were built in several Spanish regions, and the State granted Muslim communities an extensive array of rights and privileges that was arguably without parallel in Europe. Toward the onset of the 21st century, however, tensions surrounding Islams growing presence in Spain became increasingly common, especially in the northeastern region of Catalonia. These tensions centered largely around the presence, or proposed establishment, of mosques in Barcelona and its greater metropolitan area. This book examines how Islam went from being an aspect of Spains national heritage to be recovered and commemorated to a pressing social problem to be managed and controlled. It traces the events and developments that gave rise to this transformation, the diverse actors involved in the process, and the manner in which disputes over Muslim incorporation have become entangled with deeply-divisive debates over churchstate relations and territorial autonomy. The core of Rebuilding Islam in Contemporary Spain centers on the shifting political and social dynamics surrounding the establishment of mosques, and the question of why anti-mosque mobilizations have been more prevalent and intense in Catalonia than other Spanish regions.

This third edition of the best-selling title 'Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence' has been completely revised and substantially enlarged. In this work, Prof Kamali offers us the first detailed presentation available in English of the theory of Muslim law ('usul al-fiqh'). Often regarded as the most sophisticated of the traditional Islamic disciplines, Islamic jurisprudence is concerned with the way in which the rituals and laws of religion are derived from the Qur'an and the 'Sunna' - the precedent of the Prophet. Written as a university textbook, 'Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence' is distinguished by its clarity and readability; it is an essential reference work not only for students of Islamic law, but also for anyone with an interest in Muslim society or in issues of comparative jurisprudence.

This volume focuses on Muslims in Finland, Greece, Ireland and Portugal. It highlights how Muslim experiences can be understood in relation to country's particular historical routes, political economies, and post-colonial legacies. It also reveals that country particularities shaping European Muslim experiences cannot be understood independently of global dynamics.

In Ibadi Texts from the 2nd/8th Century Abdulrahman Al-Salimi and Wilferd Madelung present an edition of fourteen Ibadi religious texts and explain their contents and extraordinary source value for the early history of Islam. The Ibadis constitutes the moderate wing of the Kharijite opposition movement to the Umayyad and 'Abbasid caliphates. The texts edited are mostly polemical letters to opponents or exhortatory to followers by 'Abd Allah b. Ibad , Abu l-'Ubayda Muslim b. Abi Karima and other Ibadi leaders in Basra, Oman and Hadramawt. An epistle detailing the offences of the caliph 'Uthman is by the early Kufan historiographer al-Haytham b. 'Adi. By their early date and independence of the mainstream historical tradition these txts offer the modern historian of Islam an invaluable complement to the well-known literary sources.

In the early Islamic world, Arabic erotic compendia and sex manuals were a popular literary genre. Although primarily written by male authors, the erotic publications from this era often emphasised the sexual needs of women and the importance of female romantic fulfilment. Pernilla Myrne here explores this phenomenon, examining a range of Arabic literature to shed fresh light onto the complexities of female sexuality under the Abbasids and the Buyids. Based on an impressive array of neglected medical, religious-legal, literary and entertainment sources, Myrne elucidates the tension between depictions of women's strong sexual agency and their subordinated social role in various contexts. In the process she uncovers a great diversity of approaches from the 9th to the 11th century, including the sexual handbook the Encyclopedia of Pleasure (Jawami' al-ladhdha), which portrayed the diversity of female desires, asserting the importance of mutual satisfaction through lively poems and stories. This is the first in-depth, comprehensive analysis of female sexuality in the early Islamic world and is essential reading for all scholars of Middle Eastern history and Arabic literature.

The present English translation reproduces the original German of Carl Brockelmann's Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur (GAL) as accurately as possible. In the interest of user-friendliness the following emendations have been made in the translation: Personal names are written out in full, except b. for ibn; Brockelmann's transliteration of Arabic has been adapted to comply with modern standards for English-language publications; modern English equivalents are given for place names, e.g. Damascus, Cairo, Jerusalem, etc.; several erroneous dates have been corrected, and the page references to the two German editions have been retained in the margin, except in the Supplement volumes, where new references to the first two English volumes have been inserted.

This book not only makes a significant contribution to the literature but, by breaking new ground, seeks to create a new frame of reference for further studies of the Mediterranean. Alcalay has pulled together many strands of scholarship to present a view of the Middle East that is starkly at odds with that put forth in the establishment press and academic journals - while taking care not to sacrifice the erudition and research, whether literary critical, historical or linguistic, that have traditionally sanctioned the orientalists' version of Levantine history in the service of Western control over the region. Ammiel Alcalay is a writer, translator, and poet living in New York City. Currently an associate professor of Classical and Oriental Literatures at Queens College (CUNY), he has written many articles on literary and historical politics in the cultures of the Mediterranean. "Ammiel Alcalay is a writer, translator, and poet living in New York City. Currently an associate professor of Classical and Oriental Literatures at Queens College (CUNY), he has written many articles on literary and historical politics in the cultures of the Mediterranean.".

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Historically, countering terrorism has been something that security services have carried out on behalf of the state, without community consultation or consent. Since 9/11 however, this tradition has increasingly been questioned and the idea that communities have the potential to defeat al Qaeda - related or influenced terrorism has gained ascendency across policy, security and other contexts. Based on research in the US, Britain and Northern Ireland, this book examines the involvement of Muslim and other communities in terror crime prevention work, exploring the complexities of community involvement as well as its advantages and examining how trusting relationships between police, security services and communities can be built.

The present English translation reproduces the original German of Carl Brockelmann's Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur (GAL) as accurately as possible. In the interest of user-friendliness the following emendations have been made in the translation: Personal names are written out in full, except b. for ibn; Brockelmann's transliteration of Arabic has been adapted to comply with modern standards for English-language publications; modern English equivalents are given for place names, e.g. Damascus, Cairo, Jerusalem, etc.; several erroneous dates have been corrected, and the page references to the two German editions have been retained in the margin, except in the Supplement volumes, where new references to the first two English volumes have been inserted.

This book explores the position of Muslim schools in contemporary Britain. A Critical Race Theory approach is used to consider some of the specific issues faced by Muslim schools, in particular those looking to become state-funded. The book provides a critically considered and meaningful application of a theory of 'race' to Muslims as a religious community, without restricting the analysis to minority ethnic Muslim groups; it also provides a counter-narrative which contests assumptions about Muslim schools presented in the media and in public debates more generally. These insights are positioned against current political climates within which Muslims have been consistently subjected to surveillance and suspicion. The book draws on first-hand research carried out inside Muslim schools to offer insights into the ways that these schools cater to diverse and locally-specific needs. It concludes by arguing that independent Islamic schools represent ideal models of community need. Therefore, bringing such schools into the state sector, in a way that allows them to retain autonomy, represents an ideal strategy for the educational and political enfranchisement of British Muslims. Muslim schooling represents an opportunity for increased state investment in Muslim interests as a strategy for offsetting the ways in which Muslim communities have been marginalised more generally in contemporary political climates. The book will make compelling reading for students and researchers in the fields of Education, Sociology, and Religious Studies, particularly those with an interest in faith schools, Islam, and Critical Race Theory.

At the 900th anniversary of the Crusader capture of Jerusalem, it is timely to reflect on how the phenomenon of the Crusades influenced the Muslim world, then and now, militarily, culturally and psychologically. This book discusses a group of themes designed to highlight how Muslims reacted to the alien presence of the Crusaders in the heart of traditional Muslim territory. Ideological concerns are examined and the importance of the jihad is assessed in the context of the gradual recovery of the Holy Land and the expulsion of the Crusaders. Two chapters are devoted to an analysis of warfare - arms, battles, sieges, fortifications - on the basis of written sources and extant works of art, and the neglected aspect of the navy is brought into prominence. One chapter deals with the complex issue of the interaction between Muslims and Crusaders in a social, economic and cultural setting. The epilogue traces in outline the profound impact of the Crusades on Muslim consciousness until the present day. This is not a chronological survey of the events of the period 1099 to 1291and even beyond, for that has already been done several times. Instead, this is a general book intended to introduce some of the wider aspects of the history of the Crusades from the Muslim side. Accordingly, as a deliberate policy, an attempt is made here to view the phenomenon of the Crusades entirely through the prism of medieval Muslim sources. This naturally involves bias, but such a bias is salutary given the cumulative impact of centuries of Eurocentric scholarship in this field and it should help to create a more balanced picture of this fascinating and momentous period of Christian/Muslim confrontation and interaction.